Feb. 20, 2013 - 03:04PM
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Last Updated: Feb. 20, 2013 - 03:04PM |

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The Navy Office of Hazing Prevention will be created to provide more accountability of hazing incidents in the service, officials announced today.

The new office will be charged with issuing anti-hazing policy and tracking "substantiated cases," which will now be documented and tracked through a Navy-wide database, the release said.

Further details are spelled out in a NAVADMIN, which was not immediately available on the Navy Personnel Command website.

The release defines hazing as "cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning, or harmful activities" that can be "physical, verbal, or psychological in nature."

At a command level, the equal opportunity program manager will be responsible for tracking hazing and working with their commanding officers to ensure timely reporting of incidents. It was not clear if this was a new requirement.

Hazing has long been a concern of top Navy leaders.

Most recently, six recruit division commanders at Great Lakes, Ill., were punished for a June 28 hazing incident in which recruits were forced to exercise in their own urine and vomit.

Four of the RDCs involved — three E-6s and an E-5; the Navy hasn't released their names — received nonjudicial punishment.